Richard
Bouchard, better known as ''the Colonel'' to thousands of
WDBO-AM (580) fans, became the backup traffic pilot on
WDBO-AM
580 in 1976. He was hired full-time three years later and continued until
March, 1993 after
back
problems suffered in an automobile accident in 1990. Bouchard also said he
wanted to take a 2 1/2 month vacation out West with his family and write
a book about his days flying a U-2 spy plane for the Air Force.
He was also a traffic reporter for WFTV
channel 9 for nine years. ''It just got to where I thought I had been doing it long enough,''
said Bouchard, a native Texan who retired from the Air Force in '73.
Boucharddied Friday December 26, 2003. He was 72. Colonel
Bouchard
was called "one of the pioneers as an air-traffic reporter in the Central
Florida area," by Ben Aycrigg,
former WDBO-AM 580 personality and
news anchor of WDBO TV 6 (now WKMG). Richard
and his wife met through the radio station when she won breakfast in a contest.
He offered to let her fly with him, and she went. It was on a Valentine's Day.In
Memory